Newspaper reports can get it pretty wrong, as we all know, so I'm not trying to pontificate about what should or shouldn't be done - just seems that things sound pretty crook if that's how it really is these days.
Sad reading indeed, but there are some red herrings in the Newspaper article. The author, David Fisher, is not employed directly by the NZ Herald, but is freelance, and he doesn't know any more about this accident than anyone else who has read the report. He's simply "cherry-picking" that which he considers sensational! He has no aviation connections whatsoever.
The Wellington hotel cost has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on anything as operations conducted from Ohakea, which is a mere 90 miles away, have NEVER required such accommodation. The flight in question has been carried out many, many times.